Featured Photo: Arrival in Kherson, Ukraine and welcomed by Eugenia and Sergii at the train station.
I have arrived in Kherson, Ukraine. We have worked with Eugenia and Sergii in this Region for many years. You have read their reports and seen photos of their work with the elderly homes, the special needs children and the vulnerable population in general.
The last container we shipped here was from Searcy/Judsonia, AR. It was loaded with school uniforms and other needed commodities. I am to go and see the distribution of these items.
My arrival in Kherson was not as planned. I had planned to fly into the city but the airport is under construction so the only way to travel here was via an overnight train. Now, those who have read my trip posts are aware of just how much I loathe the train rides—they are suffocating as the conductors refuse to open any windows and the new “improved” carriages have no windows that will open; they are battering as you are jolted and jostled from side to side and up and down; they have toilets that defy any known vocabulary to adequately describe their ambiance. And, there is a litany of other points I can add from previous visits.
Every time I ride the trains I say I will NEVER do it again.
Oh wait…what is that definition of “insanity”?
Just getting TO your train is an ordeal. In order to get to the trains, you have to go up the long staircase, down the crowded halls, to the assigned departure lanes. After you find the departure lane you have to go down three flights of steps, onto the depot landing and watch for the numbered compartment car that has your reservations. Now you are carrying ALL of your luggage. You are dodging others who can quickly trip you. You are alert to the thieving gypsies’ children who can strip you of anything in your pockets before you know they are even there. It never fails that after you have run the gauntlet and are standing on the landing, your train comes in and you see your compartment zip by you. But it is not only your compartment, it seems that every person there is heading to your compartment. The mass moves like a cattle stampede pushing and pulling everyone in its path—it is flee or be flayed! You finally reach your compartment and now you have to lift every piece of baggage up about a 6-8-foot stepped incline. After you get the bags up and through the door you are immediately hit with a stall heat wave—the heater has been running so you will not get sick. After all is moved into your compartment you shed as much as you can just trying to find some relief from the heat—it is an exercise in futility. And then the train begins…lurching, sudden turns, sudden stops, cars bumping into one another as the train accelerates or slows, and so the ride continues. By morning I am bruised and battered. I am cooked. Every joint in my body is hurting. I have a headache. I am brought a cup of hot tea that probably will slosh out with the train’s movement a burn my hand.
And what happens when the train stops? Just reverse all that was previously written.
Every time I promise “this is my LAST train ride”! But then “never say never.”
Oh yes, returning to the definition of insanity… “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” (This famous quote is attributed to Albert Einstein but validated by the passenger train riders’ school of hard knocks!).
Thank you for your prayers and financial support that makes this mission trip possible!
John L Kachelman Jr Kherson, Ukraine
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